This document discusses concepts and principles of intercropping and mixed cropping systems. Intercropping involves growing two or more crops simultaneously on the same land in a definite row pattern, while mixed cropping does not have a definite row arrangement. Principles for both systems include choosing crops with complementary growth habits and rooting depths to minimize competition. Relative yield total (RYT) and land equivalent ratio (LER) are described as ways to measure yield advantages of intercropping systems, with values above 1 indicating intercropping is more efficient than sole cropping. Factors influencing the success of both systems are also discussed.

1. Concepts and differentiation of inter and mixed cropping ,Concepts and differentiation of inter and mixed cropping ,
Principles involved in inter cropping and mixed croppingPrinciples involved in inter cropping and mixed cropping
systems under rainfed and irrigated conditions andsystems under rainfed and irrigated conditions and
criteria in assessing yield advantagescriteria in assessing yield advantages
Department of Agronomy, Forages and Grassland management,
CSKHPKV, Palampur.
Presened by : Karan Verma
:Cskhpkv Palampur

2. It represents cropping patterns used on a
farm and their interactions with resources,
other farm enterprises and available
technology, which determined their
makeup.
cropping system

3. Types of cropping systems
INTER CROPPING
Intercropping is growing two or more crops
simultaneously on the same piece of land with a
definite row pattern.
For example growing setaria +Redgram in 5:1 ratios i.e.
after every row of setaria, one row of redgram is sown.
Thus, cropping intensity in space dimension is achieved.
Based on the per cent of plant population used for each
crop in intercropping system.

4. • The crops grown in association should have
complementary effects rather competitive
effects.
•The subsidiary crop should be of shorter
duration and of faster growing habits to utilize
the early slow growing period of main crop and
they must be harvested when main crop starts
growing. Faster sesamum, sawan or urd
grown with red gram picks up branching
and attains rapid growth.
Principles of intercropping

5. •Autumn planted sugarcane remains dormant
after germination until February during which
potato, berseem, lucerne, mustard could be
taken successfully as companion intercrops.
Cotton could be intercropped with onion,
greengram or blackgram; and chillies and
tomato could be intercropped with onion.

6. •Component crops should have similar
agronomic practices.
• Erect growing crops should be intercropped
with cover crops like pulses. These check the
weeds and reduce soil erosion. The losses of
water due to evaporation are also reduced.
•The component crops should have different root
depths. This will minimize competition for
nutrients, water and root respiration.
• A standard plant population of main crop
should be maintained whereas that of subsidiary
crops the plant population could increased or
decreased as per demand of the situation.

7. •The planting method and management
should be simple, less time consuming,
economical and profitable so that it may
have wider adoptability.
•Component crops of similar pests
and disease pathogens and parasite
infestations should not be chosen.

8. Types of intercropping
i) Parallel Cropping: Under this cropping two crops are
selected which have different growth habits and have a
zero competition between each other and both of them
express their full yield potential. e.g. 1) Green gram or
black gram with maize 2) Green gram or soybean with
cotton.
ii) Companion Cropping: In companion cropping the
yield of one crop is not affected by other, In other words,
the yield of both the crops is equal to their pure crops.
That the standard plant population of both crops is
maintained. e.g.1) Mustard, wheat, potato, etc. with
sugarcane 2) Wheat, radish, cabbage, sugar beat etc.,
with potato.

9. iii) Strip Inter-cropping: Growing two or
more crops simultaneously in different
strips wide enough to permit independent
cultivation but narrow enough for the crops to
interact agronomical.
iv) Relay inter-cropping: Growing two or more
crops simultaneously during part of the life
cycle of each. A second crop is planted after
the first crop has reached its reproductive
stage but before it is ready for harvest.

10. v) Multistoried Cropping or Multi-tire
cropping: Growing plants of different height in
the same field at the same time is termed as
multistoried cropping.
It is mostly practiced in orchards and plantation
crops for maximum use of solar energy even
under high planting density. Examples,,,..
A)Eucalyptus + Papaya + Berseem, B)
Sometimes it is practiced under field crops
such as Sugarcane + Potato + Onion C)
Sugarcane + Mustard + Potato D) Coconut +
Pineapple + Turmeric/Ginger.

11. Advantage of intercropping
1. Intercropping gives higher income per unit area than sole
cropping.
2. It acts as an insurance against failure of crop in abnormal
year.
3. Intercrops maintain soil fertility as the nutrient uptake is made
from both layers.
4. Reduce soil runoff.

12. 5. Total biomass production/unit area/time is
increased because of fullest use of land as
the inter-row space will be utilized which
otherwise would have been used for weed
growth. The farmer gets all his required
agriculture commodities from a limited
space. Thus the profit/unit area becomes
higher. The fodder value becomes higher
when a legume is intercropped with a non-
legume e.i. Napier + cowpea – Napier +
beerseem. It offers best employment and
utilization of labour, machine and power
throughout year.

13. 6.Better control of weeds, pests and diseases
7.One crop provides physical support to the
other crop
8. One crop provides shelter to the other crop
9.Erosion control through providing continuous
leaf cover over the ground surface, and it is the
small farmers of limited means who is most
likely to benefit.

14. There are some disadvantages of intercropping system
a)Yield decrease because of adverse competition
effect.
b)Allelopathic effect.
c)Creates obstruction in the free use of machines for
intercultural operations.
d)Large farmers with adequate resources may likely to
get less benefit out of intercropping.

15. Mixed cropping
Growing of two or more crops
simultaneously on the same piece of land,
without any definite row arrangement.
This system of cropping is practiced in areas
where climatic hazards such as flood, drought,
frost etc are frequent and common. The
farmers always fear that their crops will fail.
Mixed cropping is also practiced with a view to
achieve multiple requirements of food and
fibre. Farmers generally sown sarson on the
borders of wheat fields to harvest sarson for
greens during the initial stages.

16. Under mixed cropping, the time of sowing of all the crops is
almost the same However, they may mature either together
(wheat + gram, wheat + barley or wheat + mustard) or they
may mature at different times (arhar + Jowar, til + mung or
bajra + groundnut.
Based method of sowing mixed cropping can be
classified into the following groups
1. Mixed crops – In this case, the seeds of different
crops are mixed together and then sown either in
lines or they are broadcasted. The system is not
scientific and it causes problems in performing all
the agricultural operations and harvesting of the
crops.

17. 2. Companion crops – Under this method the seeds
of different crops are not mixed together but different
crops are sown in different rows i.e. between two rows
of mustard five to eight rows of wheat or between two
rows of arhar two three rows of groundnut are sown.
This method of sowing facilitates in weeding,
intercultural, plant protection operation and even in
harvesting.
3. Guard crops – Under this system of cropping, the
main crops is grown in the centre, surrounding by
hardy or thorny crops such as safflower around pea or
wheat, mesta (patsan), around sugarcane, jowar
around maize etc with a view to provide protection to
the main crop.

18. 4. Augmenting crops – When sub crops
are sown to supplement the yield of the
main crop, the sub crops are called as
augmenting crops such as Japanese
mustard with berseem. Here the mustard
helps in getting higher tonnage of fodder
in spite of the fact that berseem gives
poor yield in fist cutting.

19. Principles of mixed cropping
1 All crops do not fail under adverse climate
conditions.
2 An epidemic attack of any insect, pest or disease
kills only one crop without affecting the rest of the
crops.
3 The farmers grow different crops which fulfill their
daily need or demand for cereals, pulses and
oilseeds.

20. 4.Mixed cropping checks soil erosion, weeds etc.
5.It improves or maintains the soil fertility.
6.Family labour and cattle are employed
throughout the whole year.
7.Legume and non-legume mixture increase the
fodder quantity and quality both.
8.It reduces cost of cultivation.

21. Advantages:
1. It offers highest return on farm business, as the
by products of farm are properly utilized.
2. It provides work throughout year.
3. Efficient utilization of land, labour, equipment and
other resources.
4. The crop by products such as straw, bushes,
fodder etc. is used for feeding of livestock and
in return they provide milk.
5. Manures available from livestock maintain soil fertility.

22. 6. It helps in supplying all the food needs of the
family members.
7.Intensive cultivation is possible.
8. If one source of income is lost he can maintain
his family from other source of income.
9.Milk cattle’s provide draft animals for crop
production and rural transport.
10. Mixed farming increases social status of the
farmer.

23. In India the livestock is much closed connected with
agriculture because animal power is the main source of
power in agriculture. FYM is the main source for maintaining
soil fertility and animals make good use of subsidiary and by-
products on farms and in turn they provide milk under such
circumstances mixed farming will most suit in Indian
conditions.
Disadvantages:
1. Indigenous method of cultivation is used till now.
2. Draft and milch animals should be sold when they
fail in production.
3. Healthy calf should be reared to replace age old
animals.

24. Difference between - Inter Cropping & Mixed
Cropping
1. The main object is to utilize the space left
between two rows of main crop.
2. More emphasis is given to the main crop
3. There is no competition between both
crops.
4. Inter crops are of short duration & are
harvested much earlier than main.
5. Sowing time may be same or different.
6. Crops are sown in different rows without
affecting the population of main crop when
sown as sole crop.
In Inter Cropping

25. 1.To get at least one crop under
favorable conditions.
2. All crops are cared equally.
3. There is competition between all
crops growing.
4. The crops are almost of the same
duration.
5. It is same for all crops.
6. Either sown in rows or mixed without
considering the population of either.
Under Mixed Cropping

26. Mechanism of yield advantage……
The most important index of biological advantage is the relative
yield total (RYT) introduced by De wit or Land van Den Bergh
(1965) or land equivalent ratio by Willey (1979).
1.The mixture yield of a component crop expressed as a
portion of its yields as a sole crop from the same replacement
series is the relative yields of the crop and sum of relative
yields of component crop is called Relative yield total ( RYT).
2. The total land area required under sole cropping to give the
same yields obtained in the intercropping is called Land
equivalent ratio (LER). Both the expressions (RYT and LER)
are similar.

27. Land Equivalent Ratio (LER):
This is the most frequently used efficient indicator.
LER can be defined as the relative land area under
sole crop that would be required to produce the
equivalent yield under a mixed or an intercropping
system at the same level of management.LER can
be mathematically represented as follows
Where Yi is the yield of ith component from a unit area grown
as intercrop and Yij is the yield of ith component grown as
sole crop over the same area . In brief , LER is the
summation of ratios of yield of intercrop to the yield of sole
crop .

28. Example:- Let the yields of groundnut and redgram grown as pure crops be 1200
and 1000 kg/ha respectively. Let the yields of these crops when grown as
intercrops be 1000 and 600 kg/ha respectively. The land equivalent ratio of
groundnut +redgram intercropping system is as follows :
Yield of inter crop
LER of groundnut =
Yield of sole crops
1000
1200
LER of redrgram = 600/1000
LER of system= 1000 600
1200 1000
LER of the indicates that 43 per cent yield advantage is obtained
when grown as intercrops compared to growing as sole crops. In other words the
+ = 1.43

29. Note:--(The peanut or groundnut (Arachis hypogaea) is a
species in the family Fabaceae from Brazil then China
Groundnut is called as the ‘King’ of oilseeds .Groundnut is also
called as wonder nut and poor men’s cashew nut. Groundnut is
one of the most important cash crops of our country. It is a low-
priced commodity but a valuable source of all the nutrients.
Ground nut ranks first in India among oil seed crops. It covers
45% of area and accounts for 55% of production of the total oil
seeds. India is rated as the third largest producer of groundnut
in the world with annual production of over 5-6 million tons.
Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. and
redgram Cajanus cajan Leguminosae it originated in Afric).
References citied - www.iosrjournals.org A Survey on Area, Production and Productivity of Groundnut Crop in India.
Journal of Economics and Finance , ESTIMATING GROWTH RATES, DECOMPOSITION ANALYSIS AND INSTABILITY OF
GROUNDNUT CROP PRODUCTION IN ANDHRA PRADESH *,1Sita Rambabu, V., 2Farukh, Md. and 3Solmon Raju Paul, K.
Agricultural Economics, Agricultural College, Bapatla International Journal of Development Research Vol. 4, Issue, 1, pp. 085-087,
January, 2014

30. LER of more than 1 indicates yield advantage, equal
to 1 indicates no grain or no gain or no loss and less
than 1 indicates yield loss. It can be used both for
replacement and additives series of intercropping.
LER is the summation of ratios of yields of intercrop
to the yield of sole crop.
LER gives a better picture of the competitive abilities
of the component crops. It also gives actual yield
advantage of intercropping. In other words LER is the
measure of production efficiency of different system
by convening the production in terms of land acreage.
LER gives an accurate assessment of the biological
efficiency of intercropping.
Reference- Principles of agronomy by Reddy And
Reddy.

31. Relative Yields Total (RYT):
The mixture yields of a component crop expressed as a
portion of its yields as a sole crop from the same replacement
series is the relative yield of crop and sum of the relative yields
of component crop is called Relative Yields Total (RYT). Or
When LER is compared at uniform overall plant density of sole
and intercrops then it is known as RYT. In RYT yields
advantages is to measure not only unit area, but also on unit
population. This is mainly used for replacement series.
Yab+Yba
Yaa+Ybb
RYT=
Where Yaa = yields of component a as sole crop Ybb =
yields of component b is a sole crop Yab = yields of
component a as intercrop in b Yba = Yield of component b as
intercrop in a.

32. Example:-in pasture mixture, Stylo and anjan grown
in 1:1 ratio with 50% sole crop population of both crops. In
I/C, mixture yield (50%) for Stylo and anjan is 6 and 4
tons/ha of fodder, respectively. The yield of these crops in
sole stand with 100% plant population is 10 and 8 ha of
green fodder, respectively.
RYT = 12+8/10+8 = 20/18 = 1.11.
So RYT 1.11 indicates 11% extra fodder yields
obtained by mixture. Two crops yields in the intercrop
mixture are MA and MB and the yield of crops grown as
pure crop are SA and SB then the combined index is

33. L= MA/SA +MB/SB = LA+LB
The intercrop embodied in LER is that L
represents the land required for sole crops to
reduce yields achieved in the intercropping
mixture. A value of L greater than (1) indicates
overall biological advantages of intercropping. The
two component of total index LA and LB represent
the efficiency of yields production of each crop
when grow in mixture, relative to crop performance

34. Relative Crowding Coefficient (K or RCC): It is proposed by de Wit
(1960). It is used in replacement series of intercropping. It indicates
whether a species or crop when grown in mixed population has produced
more or less yield than expected in pure stand. In 50 : 50 mixture Relative
crowding coefficient can be defined as
Kab= Mixture yield of a
Pure yield of a - mixture yield of a
=Yab/Yaa+Yab
But when population differ from 50: 50 then.
Kab= Yab*Zba
(Yaa-Yab)Zab

35. Where, K = coefficient of each crop species
Yaa = Yield of pure stand of a
Ybb = Yield of pure stand of b
Yab = Mixture yield of a in combination with b
Yba = Mixture yield of b in combination with a
Zab = Sown proportion of a in mixture with b
Zba = Sown proportion of b in mixture with a
Kab = Values indicate the following conclusions:
K>1 = there is yield disadvantage
K= 1 = there is no difference
K< 1 = there is yield advantage in mixing
Crowding coefficient and LER give the yield advantage but
only LER give the magnitude of advantage. Therefore LER is
preferred to assess the competition effects and yield
advantage in intercropping situations.

36. The two main indices of dominance are the aggressivity
and competition index. Aggressivity is proposed by Mc
Gihrist (1965). It gives a simple measure of how much the
relative yield increase in species A is greater than that for
species B. It is an index of dominance.
Effective Land Equivalent Ratio (ELER): Mead and Willey (1980)
showed that any required ratio could be achieved by growing the
intercrop of the land area and one of sole crops the remainder.
P = (La+E ) / (LER+E)
LER is a measure of the net advantages from the combined intercrop
determined by adding the crop and sole crop relative yields.
ELER= Lb
((1-La)+ LER-1)P)

37. Staple Land Equivalent Ratio (SLER): In situation, where the
primary objective is to produce yields of one component
(staple crop) usually a cereal and some yields of the legume, the
concept of SLER is composed.
SLER= MDA/SA + P{MB/SB}
Where, MDA is derived yield of A in mixture yield and P, the
proportion of land devoted for intercropping. The two crop yields
in the intercrop mixture are MA and MB and yield of crops grown
as sole crop are SA and SB.
Land Equivalent Coefficient (LEC):
It was proposed by Adetilaye and Ezedinma (1986) the product
of ler of intercrop components.
LEC= MA*MB/ SB*SB

38. Area Harvest Equivalency Ratio (AHER):
This was proposed by Bal Subramanian and
Sekayange (1990). It indicates resources
efficiency. The concept of AHER combines the area
time factors in a practical sense quantifying
intercrop yield advantage particularly in multi-
season.
Crop Performance Ratio
It is defined as the productivity of an intercrop per
unit area of ground compared was expected from
sole crops sown in the same proportions (Azam Ali
et al 1990). For each same then productivity in the
intercrop can be expressed as a partial CPR.

39. It can therefore, be regarded as a measure of
association or interaction when crop with the
strength of relationship for a two crop mixture the
minimum expected product by yield advantage is
obtained and LEC greater than 0.25 (25%). This
was obtained from the 50:50 yields where inter-
specific
competition equaled intra-specific competition.
LEC = la * LB = 0.5 * 0.5 = 0.25.
The LEC is developed to assess the interaction and
potential of crop mixture. It is derived from the
understanding that in intercrop yields, as compare
optimum sole crop yield is due competition
assuming that the inter competition is absent.

40. References:-
•Modern concepts and advance principles in crop production by Panda S.C.
•Fundamentals of Agriculture by Arun Katayan.
•Hand Book of Agriculture by ICAR New Delhi.
•Principles of agronomy. By Reddy and Reddy .
•Irrigation agronomy by Dr.S.R.Reddy.
•www.iosrjournals.org A Survey on Area, Production and Productivity of
Groundnut Crop in India. Journal of Economics and Finance , ESTIMATING
GROWTH RATES, DECOMPOSITION ANALYSIS AND INSTABILITY OF GROUNDNUT
CROP PRODUCTION IN ANDHRA PRADESH *,1Sita Rambabu, V., 2Farukh, Md. and
3Solmon Raju Paul, K. Agricultural Economics, Agricultural College, Bapatla
International Journal of Development Research Vol. 4, Issue, 1, pp. 085-087,
January, 2014
•Maximizing crop yields by N.K.Fageria.
•Weed Management by U.S.Walia.
•A text book of agronomy by B.Chandrasekaran et al.
•http://www.agriinfo.in/?page=topic&superid=1&topicid=492

41. Thank you